Three men, aged between 25 and 27 years, tied up shop owner before escaping with his collections

Kurla-based wholesale mobile shop owner Sunil Mehta had just finished having his evening tea when a group of three men, all aged between 25-27 years, entered his shop, Sujal Communications, and demanded that he hand over keys to the shop's money locker. According to police sources, the men did not bother to cover their faces during the heist.

Sunil Mehta shows cops how his shop had been vandalised. Pic/Sneha Kharabe

Speaking to mid-day, Mehta said, "The men looked familiar, so it's possible that they had been around my shop for a recce. They arrived at my shop around 7.30 pm. When I refused to hand over the keys of the shop's locker, one of the robbers hit me on my head with a chopper. As I tried to retaliate, they tied me up to my chair with a long rope and thrashed me again. They also stuffed cotton inside my mouth, so that I couldn't raise an alarm."

The cops said that the robbers managed to flee with Rs 27,000, which they got from his locker, and a two-and-a-half tola gold chain that Mehta was wearing. After the thieves left, Mehta somehow managed to get close to his shop door and tried to attract the attention of passers-by. It was then that some nearby shop owners spotted him and alerted the cops, after helping him out of the ropes.

Apparently, cops arrived at the spot around 12.30 am and conducted a panchnama. Police inspector Sanjay Gaikwad from Kurla police station said, "We have filed an FIR against unknown people under IPC sections 397 and 34 for theft and trespassing. We are collecting CCTV footage from nearby shops to ascertain the identity of the robbers. As their faces were not covered, we will also take Mehta's help to get their sketches done."

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